AN ‘APPALLED’ resident who said her missed bin collection had resulted in ‘almost eight weeks’ of waste, attracting vermin has slammed the council for mishandling her “many” complaints.

Leeza Johnson, of Beaumont Rise, in Marlow, said she feels “forgotten” by Buckinghamshire Council which failed to properly empty her recycling bins on four occasions, resulting in waste strewn in front of her property by pests.

She told the Free Press, “I truly give up”, having made several attempts to contact the waste management team over a six-week period. Adding: “Not once have my phone calls or emails been returned.”

READ MORE: Residents feel ‘neglected’ after nearly six weeks without bins emptied

Ms Johnson also branded the council’s “much-publicised” electronic complaints system a “complete failure”.

She claimed there is no ‘recycling’ option and missed collection reports are automatically classified as “resolved and closed” three days after they are made, even if no action has been taken.

Her collection service normally happens on Fridays, with a fortnightly service alternating between general rubbish one week and food and garden and recycling waste the next.

However, Buckinghamshire Council has now “missed four collections” resulting in “almost eight weeks’ of waste” accumulating outside her home.

Ms Johnson said foxes are raiding her bins, forcing her to clear the debris herself. “I have had to put the bags back together that have been ripped apart by what I presume are foxes,” she said.

She criticised the council for its lack of communication and for allowing her rubbish to sit “on the street”, despite dutifully paying her council tax.

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“We now have almost eight weeks’ of rubbish outside our house,” she said.

“I am at the point of having to clear our own rubbish, as it’s attracting too much vermin.

“The council’s much-publicised electronic system is a complete failure. You can no longer flag your recycling has not been collected – it’s not an option on the menu.

“Plus, there is a glitch where after three days all missed collection reports are cleared from the system and residents get an email saying their case has been resolved and closed, when it hasn’t.

“If you call the switchboard, you have to go via customer services, who insist you recount your story for the umpteenth time and who then say they will pass your message to the waste management team, but those messages never get actioned.

“They say, ‘We are coming any day now’, and we have to trust that and leave the bins out.

“People are not unreasonable,” said Ms Johnson. “If there is a problem and the council communicated that fact to us, people would understand. But it’s never that way.

“It’s the lack of contact with updates that makes you feel forgotten.

“We pay thousands of pounds in council tax each year – we just want our rubbish collected and this is four times now. It’s appalling it’s sitting on the street corner.”

She added: “It’s a bizarre and inefficient system.”

A spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Council said: "We are aware of recent collection issues in Beaumont Rise that began at the end of our previous waste collection contract.

"We have now cleared the outstanding recycling and waste. We have recently started a new collection contract and are working hard to improve the service for all residents.

"We would like to thank residents for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience they may have experienced.

"Missed bin collections (both general waste and recycling) can be reported online in the waste collection section of the website, www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk, within two days of the scheduled collection date. If residents wish to report a missed collection later than that, we would ask that they please use the ‘Contact us’ area of the website to do so."

Got a council story? Get in touch rory.butler@newsquest.co.uk